Bringing a Brunswick Circus back to life...

Sprout

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Popped up on Craigslist for $20 a week or so back - head busted off and in pieces, pretty dirty. Figured what the heck - easy project, and something to tinker with while I was getting mentally prepared to shop my TZ that's been on the back burner for a while.

Guy ended up giving it to me for free - he only put a price on it because he was hoping somebody would "rescue" it, and not just part it out. I'm a sucker for basket cases :p Game worked when listed, but died after he turned it on a few times as I was on my way over to get it...

Head reassembled with a fair amount of wood glue, screws, and patience. Kept popping the #1 breaker, so I traced it to one of the two bridges in the power supply - replaced both bridges while I was at it, and it was back to life...

My observations - no manual I can find for this beast, but has the schematic on the back that is similar to those shown in the other similar Brunswick pins. Has a "real" tilt bob mech. Board is similar to Aspen, but slightly different (one bulb not populated, and a jumper wire on the back). Slingshot and pop-bumper mech's appear to be plastic, but seem to work well enough; flipper mech's (independant) are metal - don't really look like early Stern however, and the coils are pretty small throughout. Playfield is particle board, with a fairly thick sheet (mylar? vinyl of some sort?) that contains the artwork that is glued over the playfield. Flat plastics have artwork as stickers that cover the plastic. Game has an attract mode (cycles through 5 lamps). Maybe 4 or 5 GI lamps on the playfield, and three in the head (flashers - uncontrolled type). Multiple tunes (perhaps 8 or 9 in all?) for various game accomplishments, including one for each of the 5 stand-up targets. All-in-all, not a bad little pin for a home version, and definitely better than the likes of Star Explorer. Based upon the "Alive" manual, I found a couple of test modes - one for a switch test, and one for testing the display - have yet to find a lamp test.

A few pic's below (big/hi-resolution)- I'll have a bunch to put up on pinwiki to complement the fine work Ken's already done there as I shop it out. Need to figure out what rubber I need.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Circus.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Circus MPU.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Circus MPU Back.JPG

If the manual for this thing *is* floating around out there somewhere, I'd appreciate a link; I've had no luck finding one otherwise..

Then, once it's done - I get the big bucks for it ;)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brunswick-Circus-Pinball-Machine-1980-/290708943270

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brunswick-Circus-Pinball-Machine-1980-/220984365857
 
The guy that has the Circus for $1000 on ebay HAS the manual and it's in perfect condition. He emailed me a couple of pictures of a few pages of it.

PLEASE email him and ask him to make some high quality photocopies of it for us. This may very well be the only copy out there! I could write some more repair information.

Sprout, would it be possible for you to take some pictures of the cabinet interior (main bottom cabinet and backbox cabinet), the underside of the playfield (including some of the assemblies), the power transformer box with closeups of the bridge rectifiers and relay, and take off the bottom apron for a picture of the outhole ball kicker and trough. Also, can you either scan or photograph the schematic on the back of the machine (high resolution needed)? Coil numbers are needed too.

You got the good "Circus", the 4 player one! Worth fixing up IMO. It was the last machine made by Brunswick and incorporated/improved upon many of the features from Alive.

By chance do you have any of the numbers that were on the original bridge rectifiers? I could use those numbers for cross referencing better ones.
 
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Ken,

I'll shoot the eBay guy a mail. If he's reluctant, I'll offer a bit of cash to see if that'll convince him to spend the time necessary to provide a high-quality scan.

I otherwise have other pictures I'd taken while working on it earlier - I was pretty sure you'd be interested in them for the wiki. I'll get some pictures of the breakers, under the play field, and close-ups of the pop-bumper, slingshot, flipper mech's, and under the apron as well at some point. Basically, anything of interest, I'll make sure to get a shot of. Note that the original speaker was an 8 ohm, 1 watt 4" circular speaker. It was eaten to hell by insects at some point, so I chunked it and put a pair of cheap 4ohm computer speakers together in series as a replacement to keep it at 8 ohms.

Here's the stuff I already had otherwise; would have included it last night but hadn't uploaded it to dropbox yet:

Schematic (slightly blurry; I'll get a better shot):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Schematic.JPG

Back of cabinet (transformer on left, power supply on right):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Back of Cabinet.JPG

Inside of PSU - one bridge replaced, and other unmounted with heat-shrink removed:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/PSU.JPG

Closeup of transformer:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Transformer.JPG

Closeup of bridges; NTE part is the replacement I used. Original is 6A, 200V, replacement 8A, 400V if memory serves:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Bridges.JPG

Tilt assy:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Tilt.JPG

Steve Young has several Brunswick parts for sale - including the back glasses for Alive & Aspen - sadly, not for Circus; I'd spend the $20 or $25 to get a new one - this one has pieces missing (although I've got a couple of pieces to re-attach) in the bottom corners, and two large cracked areas in the middle as well that are at least not obvious when it's installed...
 
Did the guy you got this machine from have the manual by chance? Out of all the Brunswick home pinball machines, this 4 player Circus is the least documented. Can you also get a shot of the model/serial number nameplate on the back of the cabinet?

I noticed in your earlier picture of the game board that the Game Over light was removed and a jumper wire added from it to the first pin of an edge connector. I wonder what that was for?
 
No manual - I did ask. Apparently his family bought it for them when he was a kid, and it sat in their house/garage for many years after being moved from another location. Movers literally busted the head off of it, so they just left it sitting after the move. In good condition other than the head I suppose.

I'll get a shot of the nameplate & serial as well.

The jumper wire looks stock/factory - it leads to the "G.O." socket on the PCB as you noted, which makes sense as "Game Over". However - there is no associated area on the backglass for a "Game Over" to be displayed, so my guess is that they repurposed that lamp output to control an extra lamp on the playfield. The wire runs to the #1 pin on the PCB, which as per the schematic on the back goes to the "Target 1" lamp on the playfield.
 
Oh, I see. They must have made a last minute production change in regards to the Game Over lamp and decided to squeeze an extra lamp on the playfield.

That guy with the $1000 Circus is the only one I've ever seen that had a manual. This extremely rare manual must be preserved! You should mention to him how you are restoring your machine which was literally smashed/damaged and yours was missing the manual which you so desperately need to help fix yours.

It looks like your machine had the schematic silkscreened onto the fiberboard backbox panel. Your picture looked ok, but you were right about it being a bit fuzzy. Could be a little sharper for me to be usable.

BTW, it looks like from one of your cabinet interior pictures, Brunswick started using conventional 3/8-16 leg bolt mounting plates and conventional leg bolts. That's a good thing!

Coil numbers still needed and outhole assembly pictures too.
 
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Ok; sent them an email asking for a photocopy/scan/pictures - anything providing a good quality copy of the manual. Offered $20 for their time/hassle - we'll see if I get a response, and they're willing to do this!

Should have time to take more pictures tonight otherwise.

Update - he refused, stating he "doesn't have a manual for sale", even though I clearly asked for just a *copy* of his manual. I've sent a follow-up clarifying this, but not holding my breath. Given that this thing isn't going to sell anytime in the next 20 years, perhaps he'll change his mind at some point...
 
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Ken,

Did you try getting the manual from this one?:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/msg/f295a241a161b978?dmode=source

I otherwise got more pictures that I'll upload & post tomorrow. I also confirmed that that jumper wire indeed ties into the #1 lamp target on the playfield; if I put a bulb in that "G.O." position that was empty, it flashes whenever the playfield #1 target lamp flashes. So - does appear to be an easy/cheap way to tie that lamp driver to a playfield lamp.
 
That is the same person.

You could try contacting the guy with the other auction that just ended for $500 Circus machine to see if he or the buyer would make copies of the manual (if it had one of course).

Also, on your machine, can you get me the numbers off of the relay inside the power box?
 
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More pics posted. Also - I'm guessing all under-playfield coils are "55-102090", after looking at all the coil wrappers, and observing the part number format from "Alive". No numbers on the kick-out coil under the apron otherwise.

Some coil label shots:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Coil label4.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Coil label8.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Coil label1.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Coil label9.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Coil lable7.jpg

Circuit Breaker label - bottom/left when looking at the rear of the machine:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Circuit Breaker 1.jpg

Circuit Breaker buttons. Black sliding switch is the power switch:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Circuit Breaker 2.jpg

Flipper Assy:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Flipper 2.jpg

Inside front of cabinet:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Inside Front Cab.jpg

Inside back of head:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Inside Head.JPG

Plunger detail:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Plunger.jpg

Pop bumper:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Pop Bumper 1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Pop Bumper 2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Pop Bumper Top.jpg

Another (hopefully clearer) schematic shot:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Schematic 2.jpg

Slingshot:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Slingshot Assy.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Slingshot top.jpg

Model/Serial sticker:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Sticker.jpg

Under apron:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Under Apron 2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Under Apron.jpg

Under playfield:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Under Playfield.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Under Playfield 2.jpg

Quick movie showing attract mode, and sound effects (245MB .MOV file, FYI):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17881908/Photos/Circus/Demo.MOV

Regarding the relay - I'll try. Everything is packed in that area very tightly - was a PITA swapping those bridges because the wires were also so short.
 
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"Inside Back of Head" is a duplicate of inside front of cabinet.

Otherwise, the photos are excellent! I'm surprised at how well the machine is built. They even used used the same plastic pop bumper assembly as Stern Flight 2000 did. Did you notice that all the switches and lamps are labeled on the playfield much like Data East and Gottlieb System 3 did. For a home model it even got the cabinet interior painted.

Your schematic came out much better. Thank you. :)

Still could use some backbox interior pics.

Looks like they used a kickback or knocker assembly as the outhole ball return kicker.
 
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